


Professor Barba

by raulism



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Professor Barba AU, Sexual Tension, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 15:32:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7579555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raulism/pseuds/raulism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How is anyone supposed to focus on the lecture when Barba is their professor?<br/>A series of prompt requests from Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Professor Barba

“A ‘B+?!’” Your voice was high in your surprise, “How dare he?! This is ‘A’ work, right here. And did you read his comments? ‘Decent but you lacked a thoroughly convincing argument.’ Clearly I didn’t, or else the jury wouldn’t have found my client ‘not guilty.’”

Your roommate, Sophie, looked at you upside down from the book she was reading on her back, “I don’t see what the big deal is? It was only a mock trial. And a ‘B+’ is still a better grade than most of the class received. He’s a tough grader, you know that.”

“He’s an asshole.”

Sophie laughed hard at your statement, rolling onto her stomach on her bed as she watched you with amused eyes. “That’s not what you said on Friday.”

You groaned at the memory, how you had embarrassingly and drunkenly monologued in front of some of your classmates at the bar. “Just because I find him attractive, doesn’t mean I cannot also find him unbelievably arrogant.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say. Just go talk to him then, about your grade. Maybe you can argue a better one out of him. Or seduce a better one out of him.”

Her laughter had her doubled over at the look of irritation on your face, clenching her hands around her stomach as tears sprang into her eyes. You only frowned at her, “That’s not funny. Plus, he’d never. He’s too morally upright.”

“If you say so.” But you stood up anyway, deciding to take the first half of her advice. Your scowl deepened as you pulled the door shut on her sing-songed “Good luck!”

\------------

Mustering up your displeasure, you knocked on his office door.

“Come in.”

He didn’t look up from his computer screen as you entered, his fingers rapidly typing away on the keyboard. Raising his eyebrows, he vaguely nodded in your direction, signaling for you to begin before he even knew who he was addressing.

“Professor Barba? I’d like to talk to you about my grade on the last mock trial.”

You noticed a slight smirk pull at his lips but he still didn’t look your way before responding, “Alright, have a seat and I’ll be with you in a moment.”

It was an awkward couple of minutes, you sitting there in front of him as he all but ignored you. Finally he finished up whatever he was working on, swiveling his chair towards you. His suit jacket and tie were shed over the side of his desk, leaving him in only his vest and shirt - the sleeves of which he had pushed up to his elbows.

Struggling to remain focused, you scolded your brain for noticing that the first two buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing the beginnings of his chest hair.

“You no doubt believe that you deserved better than a ‘B,’ correct?”

You nodded at his question, gulping hard to try and rein in your galloping pulse. You never got nervous, and yet here you were, an anxious wreck as you took in how handsome your law professor looked slightly undone.

Taking a deep breath, you addressed him, presenting him with all of your reasons why he should have given you an ‘A.’

He listened silently, allowing you to run out of breath and arguments before speaking.

**“You’re not as smart as you think you are.”**

“Excuse me?!” You glared in indignation at his words, sassing back to him, “Being second in my class at Columbia Law would suggest otherwise. Maybe _you’re_ not as smart as _you_ think you are.”

His smirk was the biggest you had ever seen, “Oh? Come talk to me when you’ve grown up in El Barrio, when you’ve received a full scholarship to Harvard - graduating _top_ of your class, and when you’ve worked your way up to being an ADA.”

You visibly flinched, regretting what you had said. He was well known throughout the New York law community, his wins in court being discussed as if he were a mythical creature. But you hadn’t known the rest of that; the personal information he had just divulged to you.

The feeling of awkwardness grew exponentially on your side, shifting in your chair as you debated how to continue.

But he beat you to it, his eyes softening as he took in your distressed expression. “Look, it’s not a big deal. I’m proud of where I’ve come from, and I’m proud of where I’ve gotten. Plus, you didn’t let me finish…”

You could only blink back at him, not trusting your own voice in this moment.

He chucked lightly, leaning back in his chair as his gaze locked with yours, “You’re not as smart as you think…yet. You have a lot of potential, and I can see all the good you could do on the right side. It’s why I’m so tough on you in class and it’s actually why I was considering offering you a shadowing opportunity. For an SVU case I just got assigned, if you’re interested?”

“Oh.” Your fingers were playing with the strap of your purse as you took in his words. It would be an incredible opportunity, fattening up your resume and making your eventual job search much easier. Plus…you’d be able to spend a lot of time with Professor Barba, a perspective that was only growing in appeal the longer he looked at you like he was right now.

Swallowing past your dry throat, you broke eye contact, “I’d like that, I mean, uh, yes, please. Thank you. I—, it means a lot that you thought of me for this. And I appreciate the chance to learn about a real trial underneath y— um, I mean, _from_ you.”

Oh, god, and now you were definitely blushing, your cheeks flaming at a seemingly innocent choice of terms that only your mind had made dirty.

He rose when you did, his hand on your lower back as he escorted you towards his door.

“I’m sure you will learn a lot _underneath_ me.” He winked as you left, your head ducked towards the floor in a rare show of insecurity.

It was only because you weren’t getting laid; too busy with law school to deal with guys and dating and a social life. Your sex-deprived brain was just playing tricks on you. Because there was no way your professor had actually just hinted at you learning more than just law from him, right?


End file.
